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Machiavelli, President Trump, and the Deep State
ArticleVBlog ^ | August 20th 2018 | Rodney Dodsworth

Posted on 08/20/2018 1:21:02 AM PDT by Jacquerie

A Government of Others. Chapter 16 to Book I of Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy is a handy field guide to President Trump’s cagefight with the Deep State.

Few politicians comprehend the historic lessons in organizing and maintaining republics. Oh, they might know of them, but not with true understanding. They know incidents and events at a superficial level. To the extent they think at all, they disregard imitation as not only difficult but impossible; they disbelieve the constancy in human nature since antiquity.1

“Men,” wrote Machiavelli, “aren’t to be trusted except out of fear, not love.” This dim view has a bright side, for it means men’s actions are somewhat predictable and the essentially repetitive nature of political actions can be a guide to contemporary events. While I don’t know the extent of President Trump’s grasp of history as a vast reservoir of models and guides, one thing is certain. President Trump knows human nature. 2

Machiavelli:

It is necessary for anyone who organizes a republic and establishes laws in it, to take for granted that all men are evil . . . and when any wickedness remains hidden for a time, it arises from a hidden cause . . .3

What he meant by hidden wickedness arising from a hidden cause perplexed me for years. Its cryptic meaning wasn’t clear until Donald Trump’s candidacy, which sparked the hidden Deep State to rise up, expose itself, and fight for its survival. While constitutional conservatives cheered candidate Trump’s powerful speeches promising to drain the swamp, Deep State operatives and globalists knew exactly what Donald Trump meant; if elected, he intended to destroy them.

A long chained beast, wrote Machiavelli, once set free in an open field, will not know what to do, and will soon be recaptured.

(Excerpt) Read more at articlevblog.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: blogbot; blogpimp; clickbait; deepstate; discoursesonlivy; machiavelli; presidenttrump

1 posted on 08/20/2018 1:21:02 AM PDT by Jacquerie
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To: Jacquerie

later


2 posted on 08/20/2018 1:54:54 AM PDT by gattaca ("Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." Ronald Reagan)
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To: Jacquerie

bkmk


3 posted on 08/20/2018 2:47:26 AM PDT by sauropod (I am His and He is mine. Even tho physically free, Tommy's not free yet. He's still facing charges.)
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To: Jacquerie

Bookmark.


4 posted on 08/20/2018 2:55:04 AM PDT by SunTzuWu
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To: Jacquerie

Yes, I want them prosecuted


5 posted on 08/20/2018 3:28:07 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Jacquerie
Short version - Better to be feared then loved.

And, from the Bard: If you go after the king, you had better kill him; else beware ... as your life is short.

6 posted on 08/20/2018 3:38:39 AM PDT by jamaksin
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To: Jacquerie

Your friends will f*ck quicker than your enemies because they do not fear you.


7 posted on 08/20/2018 5:20:37 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: yldstrk

Yeah, only the Clintons can get away with what the Deep State conspirators deserve.


8 posted on 08/20/2018 7:45:20 AM PDT by Jacquerie (ArticleVBlog.com)
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To: jamaksin

Re: “Men,” wrote Machiavelli, “aren’t to be trusted except out of fear, not love.”

Above phrase is very confusing misquotation of what Machiavelli wrote.

He wrote it is better to be feared than loved if you cannot have both.

Concerning the Deep State, Machiavelli said: “An inexperienced prince who takes counsel from more than one advisor will get conflicting advice, and will not know how to reconcile it. Each of his advisors will think of his own interests, and the prince will not know how to control them or to see through their ruses. And all advisors are like this, because men will always prove unfaithful to you unless they are kept honest by necessity.”

And about trust Machiavelli wrote: “Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it”


9 posted on 08/20/2018 8:33:53 AM PDT by WayneLusvardi (It's more complex than it might seem)
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